Vince, bowlers set-up big win for Sixers

James Vince’s 46-ball 75 coupled with a collective bowling performance powered Sydney Sixers to a 79-run win over Brisbane Heat at the SCG on Sunday (January 20). With this victory, the Sixers have snapped their two-match losing streak and jump to the second spot in the points table.
Brisbane Heat captain Chris Lynn won the toss and decided to put the hosts into bat. In a surprising move, Josh Philippe was handed a promotion at the top of the order. The ‘keeper-batsman blasted a flurry of boundaries before his innings was cut short by Lalor, who struck twice in successive overs, sending both openers back to the pavilion. Henriques too didn’t last long, top-edging a pull off Doggett to third man. The Sixers were 62/3 at that stage and looked desperate for a move-on.
James Vince joined hands with Jordan Silk and the duo steadied the ship, stitching a 106-run stand for the fourth wicket. The former rode his luck with Doggett dropping him twice – on 31 and 57. The Englishman brought up his fifty off 36 balls and began upping the ante after the milestone. Silk got into the act as well, carting Cutting for four boundaries in his third over. The hosts seemed destined for the final assault but Heat made a strong comeback towards the end. First getting rid of both set batsmen and then choking the run-flow through some brilliant death bowling from Lalor and Doggett with the former finishing with a fifer as Sixers posted a healthy 177/7 in their allotted 20 overs.In reply, Brisbane Heat got off to a poor start losing Bryant off the fourth ball of the innings with Steve O’Keefe cleaning him up for a blob. They further faced a setback when Abbott prised out Chris Lynn off his first ball in the fifth over. The visitors were reduced to 25/2 inside 6 overs – their worst-ever score in the Powerplay. Things went pear-shaped for Brisbane when Pope consumed Peirson and Brendon McCullum in his second and fourth over which left them reeling at 53/4.Ben Cutting displayed his big-hitting prowess and kept the scorecard moving. But it was too little and too late for the Heat. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and hit a roadblock. With the asking rate climbing with every passing over, Cutting decided to accelerate and perished in the process to Tom Curran for 28.